It is little secret the housing market has been on fire for the past few years. As prices rise, homebuyers can't help but have a sinking feeling that they may be buying into an overvalued market. In some cases, unfortunately, they are. For instance, Phoenix, Las Vegas and Stockton, California – three metropolitan areas hit hard by the nation's housing collapse more than a decade ago – now rank among the 10 most overvalued of the nation's largest housing markets, according to a recent analysis by professors at Florida Atlantic University and Florida International University. Based on past pricing history, homes in Phoenix are selling for a 42.31% premium. Homes in Las Vegas are selling for 41.88% above their long-term pricing trend, just ahead of Stockton's 38.50%. Consumers buying now in the most overvalued markets are paying near peak prices and risk being stuck for a significant amount of time before they can realize solid returns on their real estate investments, said Ken H. Johnson, a real estate economist and associate dean in FAU's College of Business. "In the Top 10 markets, potential buyers might want to consider renting and reinvesting money that they otherwise would have put into homeownership," Johnson said. "Renting and reinvesting has been shown to often outperform ownership in terms of wealth creation." For a look at FAU's top ten overvalued markets see our slideshow above.